Pile compressor



Dec. 10, 1963 H. w. FAEBER' 3,113,506

PILE COMPRESSOR Filed Feb. 27, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 PRESSURE SWITCHINVEN TOR. HARRY W. FAEBER his ATTORNEYS Dec. 10, 1963 Filed Feb. 27,1961 FIG 2 H. w. FAEBER 3,113,506

PILE COMPRESSOR s Sheets-Sheet 2 TIMED SWITCH INVENTOR. HARRY W. FAEBERMai, Maw

his ATTORNEYS INVENTbR. HARRY w. FAEBER his ATTORNEYS Dec. 10, I963 H.w. FAEBER PILE COMPRESSOR 3 t w w w u & 4 Z 5 2 o m o 1 4/ .fi 4 o o 0 0U 4 2 4\ W m H II w z 2 h n d h m trates York Filed Feb. 27, 1961, Ser.No. 91,7 83 6 Claims. (Cl. 100-53) This invention generally relates tothe handling of materials and, more particularly, to apparatus for thecompression of stacks or piles of items, such as, for example, foldedsheets of newsprint or the like, in order to facilitate subsequenthandling operations.

The invention finds particular application in the printing industry inwhich it is often necessary to compress a stack of newspapers or foldedsheets of paper that are referred to generally as signatures. Toelaborate, the top surface of an uncompressed stack or pile ofsignatures typically is not level; i.e., the side of the stack composedof the folded edges of the signatures is normally much higher than theopposite side. This is because the folded edge of a signature isappreciably thicker than the opposite edge where there is no fold. Thus,in order to facilitate stacking and also to facilitate subsequenthandling operations, it is desirable that uncompressed stacks or pilesof signatures be compressed to form compact bundles of signatures havingsubstantially fiat top surfaces.

Although compression of a stack of signatures may be accomplishedthrough the use of a single plate being brought to bear down on top ofthe stack, this has its consequent disadvantages. For example, if thecurl of the stack of signatures is very great, i.e., if the side of thestack that is composed of the signature folds is much higher than theopposite side, then bringing a simple plate down on top of the stack inorder to compress it may result in damaging the stack. That is, thecurled up portions of the upper signatures of the stack may be crushedor folded over during the compression step with the result that a numberof signatures will be unusable. In addition, when the plate comes intocontact with the curled-up portion of the stack there may be a tendencyfor the upper signatures to slip relative to one another, therebyfanning out the upper signatures in the stack.

The present invention sucessfully avoids the disadvantages consequent tothe use of a simple plate to compress a pile of signatures by employingin its place a multiple plate mechanism in which the plates act insequence. For example, in the case of a double plate mechanism theplates are operated in a two step process. The first step -of thisprocess may be characterized as holding and partial compressing; thesecond step as curl compress ing.

In the holding and partial compressing step, one of two plates ispositioned against the portion of the top surface of the stack ofsignatures that corresponds to the non-curled portion of the stack,i.e., the portion that does not include the folded signature edges.Since this portion is substantially horizontal, the first platecomprises a horizontally positioned plate that is brought to bear downupon the associated surface of the stack with a given pressure, thusholding and partially compressing the stack.

When the first plate compresses the non-curled portion of the topsurface of the stack with a predetermined amount of pressure, a pressuresensitive device actuates the movement of a second plate, thus toinitiate the curl compressing step. The second plate is initiallypositioned substantially in parallel relation to the curled portion ofthe stack and is pivotally mounted with respect to an axis in the firstplate. Accordingly, in the curl com- 3,ll3,5% Patented Dec. 10, 1963pressing step the second plate is made to swing about the axis in thefirst plate, thus compressing the curled portion of the stack at alltimes in a direction perpendicular to the curled surface.

The second plate swings about the above-mentioned axis until it forms anangle of approximately with the first plate, i.e., until the first andsecond plates together form a single plane surface. Accordingly, boththe first and second plates push the top of the stack downward tocompress the stack.

In appraising the advantages of this invention, it should beparticularly noted that, by the use of at least two plates, one of whichis free to pivot about an axis in the other, the forces exerted againsta pile of signatures at all points and at all times are substantiallyperpendicular thereto. In this fashion, the danger of mutilatingsignatures during a compression operation is easily and effectivelyeliminated.

Although the invention has been described above in. general terms, abetter understanding of it may be obtained by consulting the followingdetailed description, when taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the inventionshowing the compression of a stack of signatures;

FIGURE 2 is a partially cut-away side view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1showing the positions of, various elements following the compression ofa stack of signatures; and

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the embodiment of the invention shown inFIGURE 1 taken along the section 3-3 and viewed in the direction of thearrows.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a series of stacks of signatures 11, bothcompressed and uncompressed, are shown positioned on conveyor belts 12and 13. The

movement of the belts in conveying the stacks of signatures from rightto left is controlled by a pair of chain drives 14 and 15, which dictatethe movement, e.g., of a series of rollers 16 (see FIGURE 2) thatsupport the belts. The chain drive 15 is driven from the chain drive 14,and the chain drive 14, in turn, is driven through a drive gear 17through a reciprocating rack 65. The ,conveyor system operatesintermittently to position the stacks of signatures one by one under acompressing unit 20, the movement of the conveyor belts taking placewhen the compressor is in a raised or noncompressing position, as inFIGURE 2. The intermittent action of the conveyor system will beexplained later; sufiice to say, there is no movement of the stacks ofsignatures on the conveyor belts during the compression of a stack, asin FIGURE 1.

The compressing unit 20 is perhaps best illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3.As shown in FIGURE 3, the entire unit is supported by two cylindricalslides 21 and 22 that slide up and down on vertical rods 23 and 24-. Thevertical movement of the supporting slides is controlled by the actionof a piston rod 25 which is coupled to a horizontal tie bar 26connecting the vertical slides at their lower portions. The movement ofpiston rod 25 is in turn controlled by an air cylinder 27.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, air cylinder 27 has two pressure lines 30and 3'1 coupled thereto. Each of the pressure lines is also coupled to apressune-channeling device 32 that is under the control of both a spring83 and a solenoid 34. When the solenoid is de energized, i.e., when itsinput terminal B is de-energized, the action of spring 33, which exertsan upward force, is controlling, and the pressure-channeling device 32is pulled into its upper position. In this position, depicted in FIGURE2, a source of pressure P is channeled to the lower pressure line 3-1 ofair cylinder 27. As may be seen in the figure, the upper pressure line30 of the air cylinder becomes an exhaust line.

When pressure is applied to the lower line 311, as when solenoid 34 isde-ene-rgized, piston rod 25 within the air cylinder is forced upwardand retained against the top portion of the cylinder. Thus, as shown inFIGURE 2, the entire compressing unit is raised above the stacks ofsignatures and is in a non-compressing position.

In order to compress a stack of signatures, input terminal B of solenoid34 is energized, as, e.g., by a source of potential, not shown, whoseapplication is controlled by a switch '67 that is actuated by a portion68 of rack 65. Terminal B of switch 67 corresponds to terminal B ofsolenoid 34, and thus, when the terminal is energized, i.e., when therack 65 is in the position shown in FIG- URE .l, pressure-channelingdevice 32 is pulled downward into its lower position, as shown in thefigure. In this position, the source of air pressure P is channeled intothe upper pressure line '30 of air cylinder 27, and thus lower pressureline 31 serves as the exhaust line for the cylinder. When pressure isadmitted into the upper pressure line 30, piston rod is forced to thebottom of the cylinder. In this fashion the entire compression unit 20is lowered so that a horizontal plate 40 (best seen in FIGURE '1),connected to a cross bar 41 (best seen in FIGURE 3) that bridges theslides 21 and 22, compresses a portion of the stack of signatures andalso holds the stack. It should be noted that plate 40 compresses thenon-curled portion of the stack of sigmatures. (See FIGURE 1.)

When plate 40 initially compresses the stack of signatures, a curlcompressing plate 42, that is hinged about an axis 43 in plate 40, is inits upper position as shown by the dashed lines in FIGURE 1. When apredetermined amount of pressure is built up in the upper pressure lineof air cylinder 27, i.e., when the horizontal plate is compressing andholding the stack of signatures, a pressure switch 45 coupled to line-30 is actuated. The output terminal C of pressure switch 45 is coupledto input terminal C of a solenoid 46. Solenoid 46 is coupled to apressure-channeling device 47 that controls an air cylinder 48associated with the curl-compressing plate 42.

When pressure switch 45 is actuated, thereby energizing the terminal C,the solenoid 46 is in turn energized and the pressure-channeling device47 is pulled to its lower position, as in FIGURE 1. In this position,the pressure from source P is channeled to the upper pressure line 49 ofthe cylinder 48, and thus the lower pressure line 50 serves as anexhaust line. Accordingly, a piston rod 51 within the cylinder is forceddownward, and the curl-compressing plate 42, to which piston rod 51 ispivotally coupled by pin 52, is forced downward in a,

swinging motion as it pivots about the axis 43 in the horizontal plate40.

The curl-compressing plate 42 swings about the axis 43 until itcompresses the curled portion of the stack of signatures. Thus, plate 42 assumes the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 1, and the entirestack of signatures is compressed by both the horizontal plate 40 andthe curl-compressing plate 42.

After the complete compression of a stack of signatures, solenoid 34 isde-energized by the de-act-uation of switch 67, caused by the movementof rack 65 to the position shown in FIGURE 2. This movement of the rackwill be explained shortly. When solenoid 34 is de-energized, thepressurechanneling device 32 is returned to its upper position by theaction of spring 33. In this position, as shown in FIGURE '2, the sourceof pressure P is channeled to the lower pressure line 3 1, while theupper line 80 serves as the exhaust line. Accordingly, piston rod 25 isforced toward the top of the air cylinder, and the entire compressionunit :20 commences to swing upward.

As soon as upper line 30 becomes an exhaust line, the pressure thereinis lost, and pressure switch 45 is deactuated, thereby de-energizingsolenoid 46. When solenoid 46 is de-energized, spring 55 returns thepressurechanneling device 47 to its upper position, as shown in FIGURE2, and thus lower line 50 of cylinder 48 becomes a pressure line whileupper line 49 becomes the exhaust line. Piston rod 5 1 is accordinglyforced upward, and the curl-compressing plate 42 swings upward. In thisfashion, the entire compression unit '20 is raised to thenon-compressing position shown in FIGURE 2.

The intermittent movement of the signatures along the conveyor belts isaccomplished by the indexing rack 65 as follows. The rack is connectedto the movable piston of an air cylinder 66, opposite ends of which areconnected by pressure lines 66 and 61 to a pressure-channeling device 62similar to pressure-oharmeling devices 32 and 47. In the position shownin FIGURE 2, solenoid 64 is tie-energized, and the pressure-channelingdevice 62 is pulled by spring 63 to the position shown.

Controlled by a timed switch 35, the solenoid 64 is energized atterminal A to pull the pressure-channeling device toward it to assumethe position shown in \FlIG- URE 1. In this position, the pressure fromsource P is channeled to the pressure line 60, while the line 61 servesas an exhaust line. Assuming that the indexing rack 65 is initially inthe position shown in FIGURE 2, the energization of solenoid 64 resultsin the movement of the rack to the right until it ultimately assumes theposition shown in FIGURE 1. This left to right movement of the rackmoves the gear 17 (FIGURE 2) counterclockwise, thus imparting movementto the chain drives 14 and 15 (FIGURE 1). In this fashion, the conveyorbelts 12 and 13 are indexed one position so that the next uncompressedstack of signatures is positioned beneath the compressing unit.

When solenoid 64 is tie-energized under the action of timed switch 35,spring 63 pulls the pressure-channeling device 62 to the left so thatthe device assumes the position shown in FIGURE 2. As shown in thefigure, pressure is applied to the pressure line 61 while the line 60serves as the exhaust line. In this fashion, the rack 65 is driven fromright to left. However, because of a clutch or ratchet arrangement ingear 17, the movement of rack 65 from right to left results in nomovement of the gear. Thus, the only movement of the gear iscounterclockwise, which is occasioned by a left-to-right movement of theindexing rack that leads to an ultimate indexing of the stacks ofsignatures intermittently under the compression unit.

As may be seen, the sequence of operations, i.e.,compress-uncompress-index-compress-etc, is controlled by the sequentialand selective energization of solenoids 34 and 64, as effected by switch67, which is under the ultimate control of the timed switch 35. Thistimed switch, which may easily incorporate switch 67, in turn may becontrolled by the movement of various other operational parts of acomplete handling and conveying system.

While the invention has been described above, numerous additions andsubstitutions to the preferred embodiment disclosed may be made by oneskilled in the art, without, however, departing from the scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the following claims should be grantedsufficient scope to embrace such additions and substitutions.

I claim:

1. A compressor for bulk material comprising a first plate, a secondplate in hinged relation to said first plate, means coupled to saidfirst plate for positioning said first plate upon a first portion ofsaid bulk material, means for applying a predetermined amount ofpressure to said first plate, means responsive to the pressure appliedto said first plate for swinging said hinged second plate from anoncontacting to a contacting position with respect to a second portionof said bulk material, means for applying a given amount of pressure tosaid second plate, and means for positioning said first and said secondplates from said contacting-pressure-applying position to anoncontacting position.

2. Apparatus for .the compression of a pile of signatures comprisingfirst compression means for contacting and compressing a first portionof a given surface of said pile, second compression means pivotallymounted with respect to an axis contained in said first compressionmeans and initially positioned substantially in parallel relation to theremaining portion of said given surface, means responsive to theexertion of a predetermined amount of compression force by said firstcompression means for applying a preestablished force to said secondcompression means whereby said second compression means formssubstantially a plane surface with said first compression means and bothsaid first and said second compression means compress said pile.

3. Apparatus for the compression of a stack of sheets comprising holdingand compressing means for applying a predetermined amount of pressuresubstantially perpendicularly to all points on a portion of a givensurface of said stack, curl compressing means responsive to the exertionof a predetermined amount of pressure by said holding and compressingmeans for initially exerting pressure substantially perpendicular to theremaining portion of said surface, means for changing the direction inwhich said pressure is applied by said curl compressing means finally toexert a force against said surface of said second portion of said stackthat is in a direction substantially the same as the direction of saidpressure exerted by said holding and compressing means.

4. Apparatus for the compression of a stack of folded sheets comprisinga first plate, a. second plate pivotally attached to an edge of saidfirst plate, the plane of said second plate being inclined with respectto the plane of said first plate, first movement means for positioningsaid first plate against a first substantially fiat portion of a surfaceof said stack, means for applying a predetermined force to said firstplate to compress said first portion, means responsive to theapplication of said predetermined amount of force to said first platefor pivoting said second plate until said second plate compresses theremaining portion of said surface of said stack and forms substantiallya plane surface with said first plate, and means for moving said firstand said second plates away from a contacting position with said surfaceof said stack.

5. Pile compressing apparatus comprising a pair of spaced slide rods, apair of slides movably attached to said slide rods, a first plateattached to and positioned between said movable slides, means coupled tosaid movable slides for positioning said first plate with a given amountof pressure against a first substantially fiat portion of a surface of apile, a second plate pivotally attached to said first plate, meansresponsive to the pressure applied by said first plate and coupled tosaid second plate for pivoting said second plate until said second plateand said first plate form together a substantially plane surface,Whereoy said second plate compresses a second portion of said surface ofsaid pile.

6. Apparatus for compressing a stack of signatures which curve at theirfolded edges, comprising a multiple plate compressor which includes afirst plate engageable with a portion of a first surface of the stackremote from the folded edges and a second plate pivotally attached tothe first plate and engageable with the first surface of the stack nearthe folded edges, the second plate being normally in a retractedposition relative to the first plate, means for supporting the stack ofsignatures positioned against a second surface of the stack oppositefrom said first surface and stationary in a direction normal to saidsecond surface, first reciprocating means for moving the first plateinto engagement with the first surface of the stack, and secondreciprocating means comprising motor means for subsequently moving thesecond plate into engagement with the first surface of the stack, saidmotor means being mounted on said first reciprocating means forreciprocation therewith, thereby to effect a holding of the stack and acompressing of the portion of the first surface of the stack remote fromthe folded edges before the portion of the first surface of the stacknear the folded edges is compressed.

References tilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS482,782 Burkhardt Sept. 20, 1892 1,883,449 Andrews Oct. 18, 19322,272,009 Keller et a1. Feb. 3, 1942 2,492,878 Miollis Dec. 27, 19492,644,965 Kitcat July 14, 1953 2,932,247 Thompson Apr. 12, 1960 FOREIGNPATENTS 5003443 Italy Nov. 18, 1954 37,744 Netherlands Mar. 16, 1936

6. APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING A STACK OF SIGNATURES WHICH CURVE AT THEIRFOLDED EDGES, COMPRISING A MULTIPLE PLATE COMPRESSOR WHICH INCLUDES AFIRST PLATE ENGAGEABLE WITH A PORTION OF A FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACKREMOTE FROM THE FOLDED EDGES AND A SECOND PLATE PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TOTHE FIRST PLATE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACK NEARTHE FOLDED EDGES, THE SECOND PLATE BEING NORMALLY IN A RETRACTEDPOSITION RELATIVE TO THE FIRST PLATE, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE STACK OFSIGNATURES POSITIONED AGAINST A SECOND SURFACE OF THE STACK OPPOSITEFROM SAID FIRST SURFACE AND STATIONARY IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO SAIDSECOND SURFACE, FIRST RECIPROCATING MEANS FOR MOVING THE FIRST PLATEINTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACK, AND SECONDRECIPROCATING MEANS COMPRISING MOTOR MEANS FOR SUBSEQUENTLY MOVING THESECOND PLATE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACK, SAIDMOTOR MEANS BEING MOUNTED ON SAID FIRST RECIPROCATING MEANS FORRECIPROCATION THEREWITH, THEREBY TO EFFECT A HOLDING OF THE STACK AND ACOMPRESSING OF THE PORTION OF THE FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACK REMOTE FROMTHE FOLDED EDGES BEFORE THE PORTION OF THE FIRST SURFACE OF THE STACKNEAR THE FOLDED EDGES IS COMPRESSED.